George herbert sweet f arrant



GEORGE- HERBERT SWEET FARRANT, OF BEMERTON, ENGLAND.

* PROTECTOR FOR. ExPosEo SEATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 524,893, dated August 21,1894.

I Application filed March 27, 1894. Serial No. 605,278- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE HERBERT SWEET FARRANT, of Bemerton, Salisbury, England, have invented a new and useful Improved Protector for Exposed Seats, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

a My invention has for its object to provide seats, and more especiallythe outside seats of omnibuses, tramcars, and other public vehicles, steam-boats, public parks, &c., with a combined seat-back and automatically-closing cover for protecting the seat from rain, snow and dust.

The combined seat-back and cover is hingejointed to the seat frame in such manner that when raised it will form a rigid back for the seat, but always tends to fall down upon and cover the seat, so that when the latter is unoccupied it will be protected from rain and dust without any attention on the part of the passengers or conductor.

The combined seat-back and protector may be constructed of wood or metal or of a light frame covered with waterproof material, and may be suitably padded so that when raised it will form a comfortable back support for the occupant of the seat.

Reference is to be hadto the accompanyin g drawings, forming part of thisspecification, wherein-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the seat with the combined seat-back and cover closed down upon it, and Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the seat with the cover raised to form a back for the seat. Fig. 3 is a vertical crosssection with the combined seat-back and cover raised.

The same letters of reference are used to denote like parts in all the figures.

A is the seat formed of cross-bars in the usual way, or solid, and either flat or curved, as shown, or of any other suitable shape, said seat being supported on the usual standards B and O is the combined seat-back and cover hinged at D to rearwardly and upwardly projecting arms b forming extensions of the seat standards B, the hinges being formed between these arms b and arms 0 attached to, or forming part of, the standards 0 of the seat-back and cover, said arms a projecting or being offset from the rear side of the latter, so that when the seat-back is raised, its

center of gravity will not be in the vertical plane of the hinges but will be situated so far forward thereof, by reason of the offset or rearward projection of the arms 0 that it will not remain in j the raised position when the seat is unoccupied.

The hinges D are provided with stops formed by the end 0 of the arm 0 projecting beyond the hinge knuckle and abutting against the shoulder formed by the upper end of the arm I), so as to limit the movement of the hinge in one direction and afiord a rigid support for the back 0 when raised, as shown in Fig. 2.

The combined seat-back and protector corresponds to the flat or shaped form of the seat, as the case may be, and is formed of the standards a and of wooden crossrails e e aifixed thereto, a sheet of waterproof fabric, metal, or wood E, being stretched over the rear or upper side of the frame and extending beyond those edges which correspond to the ends and rear of the seat, the overhanging edges of the covering permitting the rain to drip off free of the seat and preventing it creeping between the seat and its cover. The uppermost rail e, or both rails, may be padded on the face, if desired.

I claim- 1. A seat provided with a combined back and cover adapted to fold down upon and wholly cover the seat and to be raised so as to form a back therefor, the said combined back and cover being hinged to a seat-supporting frame by stop-hinges whereby its backward motion is limited and whereby it issupported rigidly against backward pressure, the said hinges being in avertical plane to the rear of the center of gravity of the combined hackand cover so that the latter will fall forward by its own weight when relieved from such pressure, substantially as specified.

2. A combined seat-back and cover constructed of a frame formed of standards and cross-bars, a waterproof sheeting stretched over such frame, rearwardly offset arms fixed to the frame and connected by stop-hinge joints to rearwardly and upwardly projecting arms fixed tothe seat-supporting frame, the hinges having stops which limit the rearward motion of the seat-back and said hinges being situated in rear of the vertical plane passing through the center of gravity of the back so that the back will fall forward upon the seat 15 113 Castle Streei Sal'isbury, Clerk to Messrs. Hod'ding ct; Jackson, Solicitors, Salisbury. 

